Original/Revised version

The next analysis provided in this section will share some aspects about multiple poems shared together in class regarding about nature and the environment. My main approach on this assigment was to share as clear as possible what the poems transmitted to my person and how its meanings were abstract to my point of view.

Mia Peña
Prof. Carpenter
Composition of individl
Oct 8 , 2025

Peer Review Workshop

Poem Analysis and Reader Response Essay

Read through the essay to get a full picture of what the writer wants to say (remember, the argument, if there is one, will be at the end). What aspects of the essay feel most effective?

For me the most effective parts of this essay is how he connects his life experiences with the poem, the poem itself is about how trees reflect the cycle of life through the seasons, birth, death and rebirth, he manages to connect his own life experiences to give the reader a greater perspective and a better imagination showing how the poem connects with him and his personal memories

Check for Point of View (POV): Does the writer use 1st person (I), 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (she/it/they), or a combination? Note anywhere where a shift in POV isn’t clearly signaled.

This essay can be taken more as a personal analysis, the author uses a lot of the first person since as I explained, he related a lot of his personal experiences with the poem, and well, he spoke mostly in the first person since he uses a lot of the “I” and first person phrases like “I have a favorite verse” etc. but in an ovation he put second person phrases like “everyone” and well, in my opinion it was somewhat confusing since he began speaking as a first person and then spoke of a second person, yes, if the essay had already begun as a personal format, changing to second person can confuse the reader.

When a writer uses 2nd person, they should be speaking literally and directly to the reader. Mark anywhere that 2nd person is used, but the writer seems to be talking about their own ideas and feelings or wider societal opinions. Leave a note in the margins suggesting which POV would be more effective.
In line 13 of the first paragraph the author uses a second person sentence “everyone will hear a different song each night, for there is always something there” throughout the essay the author talks about natural experiences and how he perceives the poem and how it connects to his memories and experience, the essay should not necessarily have a second person since it does not speak directly to the reader which is a bit confusing. In this part he uses a second person when he talks about his experience with nature. If he wanted to give a general opinion it would have been better to speak of a third person like “the person…” It would have been better understood this way since it also jumps from a first person personal perspective to a second person very suddenly being confusing
Are there any parts of the essay that confuse you? What are they and what additional information would help clarify meaning?
There is a part of the essay that confuses me a little, it is the part that says “As the girl represents the life of spring that lived
through summer to fall. However, when winter comes the girl dies along with the tree for
everything dies in winter and reawakens in the spring” This part for me is confusing because personally the poem talks about personal experiences, so it can be reflected that it is a first-person poem, but it suddenly comes out this phrase without any explanation, where does the girl come from? What reference does it have to which part of the poem or did she take this from the poem or was it already in the poem? This is somewhat confusing when I read it. I think a good idea if the author of the essay wanted to add this part, the best thing they could do was to include a quote like “for example” so that this part can be better understood.
State what you think is the main idea/claim/point that the writer wants to say about the poem.

In my opinion the main idea that the author of the essay conveys is to observe nature from a different perspective, to carefully contemplate its seasons of the year since in them you can see the cycle of life and how this can connect with us, as the trees themselves reflect birth, death and life through the cycle that passes in different seasons, like when it has leaves “summer” when the waves fall “autumn and winter” and when its leaves grow back when it is reborn “spring”. For me this was what he wanted to interpret.
STOP HERE AND DISCUSS THE MAIN IDEA

Using the discussion for refinement, write a 1-sentence version of the main idea/takeaway that you’re trying to convey in your essay at the top of your own draft. This is the thesis

Part 2: Working on organization

Go through your partner’s essay and make sure each paragraph has only one main idea and function (if a long paragraph has one big idea with several smaller parts, consider the smaller parts as separate sub-ideas – they can be separate paragraphs). If the writer has a paragraph that serves multiple functions, mark how and where you’d divide it up.

The author has a clear idea but each paragraph has more than one idea, the first paragraph starts completely well, it introduces the poem and its main idea of what it is about, but out of nowhere he begins to put his own reflections, which is not bad but the best thing he can do is use that first paragraph only for the introduction of the poem, so that someone who has not read it can understand it just by reading the introduction of the essay and then start in another paragraph with his own reflections and experience. Also in the second paragraph the author talks about how the poem represents the symbols of birth, death and rebirth and then talks about his own experiences and emotions, and my advice is the same as the beginning, the best thing he can do is make his first paragraph an introduction and his second an analysis of the poem and his third can be his emotions and experiences how this connects to the poem. His last paragraph is good in my opinion it completely concludes his essay but in my opinion as the essay progresses he should cite more evidence from the poem.

Label each paragraph (including new ones you’ve suggested), stating its topic and function in the essay.

Paragraph 1:
Theme: (the theme of the poem) “the trees witness everything”
Function: Introduce the poem, give a brief and detailed summary of what it is about so readers can understand the meaning and main idea of the essay.

Paragraph 2: Analysis of the poem + quotes or evidence
Function: Explain how the poem conveys and reflects the seasons of the trees as cycles of life (birth, death, and rebirth) + evidence to support this.

Paragraph 3:
Topic: Personal experience, emotions, or reflections + quotes
Function: Explain how the essay author feels connected to the poem and how their own experiences influence it without forgetting the main idea of the essay. Also, citations such as “for example” that help the reader gain greater perspective and imagination, as well as evidence from the text (but I feel that evidence is optional in my opinion since it was stated in the previous paragraph).

Paragraph 4: Conclusion
Function: To conclude the essay, provide a brief conclusion that goes into more depth about the essay and poem. It discusses how the author used trees and seasons to convey emotions, reflection, or awareness to the readers, and how this connects to our lives.

Do any parts, or even sentences, feel off-topic and hard to connect to a focused paragraph idea? Mark or describe them. What should be done with them (cut them, move them, or explain the connection better)?In general, the ideas in the paragraphs and their messages are intertwined with coherence and context. However, there are some “extra” sentences that could be better explained or simply removed from the paragraph due to their limited contribution of information to the text. For example: “Everyone will hear a different song each night for there is always something there.”
“For in winter everything and there is no death.”
“They are what the trees see from their viewpoint in different time periods.” The highlighted ideas show little meaning to the paragraph, as they complement rather than contribute to it. In other words, these extra sentences could be explained more clearly or removed, since their contribution to the paragraph is almost nonexistent.
Now… What feels missing to you as a reader? Does this seem like enough detail to convey the poem’s meaning and message? What would you add?

Personally, the essay is fine, but it needs some polishing.
I think it’s missing a lot of transition words. In several paragraphs, the author of the essay tries to explain the poem and talks about it, and then suddenly jumps to completely different things, such as his own experiences. It’s a bit confusing to read it in this drastic way.
I also think something is missing is a better explanation of the metaphors. The author often talks about a girl and trees, but doesn’t explain very well how this connects to the main idea, and there’s also a lack of evidence.
I think I would add transition words, evidence, and citations like “for example…”.

10. NOW… Flip the organization! Let’s move the main idea to the first paragraph. Highlight/underline whatever sentences or ideas that you need to know before the thesis in order for it to make sense.

The main idea of the essay (deductive thesis) It is the cycles of life reflected in the seasons of trees (birth, death, and rebirth). Before the author begins the essay, they must have their ideas completely clear. They must consider the title of the poem and who is writing it, the main idea of the poem, and carefully analyze the poem and how trees reflect the cycle of life. This is something you should keep in mind before starting your thesis so that the essay doesn’t look so messy, and how the poem is divided into different sections. I think if we underline the most important things, it’s: “Trees are witnesses to everything,” by Victoria Chang” (introduction to the poem) “One that caught my attention was” (first-person statements, personal emotions, and identification of the poem) “The poem is divided into different sections…” (detailed information about the poem for the thesis that shows the cycles of life as the poem conveys it) “The trees, as silent witnesses, observe the changes of each season of the year…” (specific explanation of the main idea of the poem about the cycles of life).

Use the topic/function labels you assigned to make a new outline for the essay on the back of this page. Assuming all your highlighted (or circled) material is in the intro with the thesis, reorder the
paragraphs in whatever way makes the most sense to you for an effective structure. Use your partner’s new thesis sentence as your guide: what’s the first thing that needs established, the second, etc?

The first thing to establish is
The introduction: here the author should state the topic of the essay “the trees witness everything” + who it is written by “by Victoria Chang.”
Then they should give a brief summary of the poem,
explaining what it is about and what sections the essay is divided into, based on different perspectives.
Introduce the main idea of the text and how trees reflect the cycle of life through the seasons. Include the example thesis statement: “the poem represents how trees reflect the cycles of life, which are birth, death, and reincarnation through the seasons of the year, demonstrating what life is like and how these cycles are represented in absolutely everything—humans and nature.”

The second thing you should do is analyze the poem, delving deeper into the theme, explaining in more detail how trees reflect the cycles of life. An example is, “Trees reflect the cycles of life through the seasons of the year: ‘Summer alive, autumn – farewell (death, darkness), spring – rebirth.'” How this connects more deeply and directly to the idea of trees and the cycles of life. We also use evidence from the poem to support your ideas. You can explain how the writer’s emotions impact the reader and how the imagery influences them.

The third thing you should do is begin to implement your own ideas and experiences, how this has connected to your life and how your experiences can be reflected in the poem. You can use transition words, metaphors, first person and third person, as well as quotes like, “For example; the girl” and, above all, evidence that it also supports some of your ideas.

Finally, you should conclude with something similar to your introduction, but a little more in-depth, including things from your other two paragraphs, explaining how all of this connects to the main idea of the text and what you want to convey with this essay and reaffirm your thesis.